Hondune Games Official Blog

Hondune's Truck Trials OUT NOW!

2012-01-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

Its released now! Get it here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hondunes-truck-trials/id494807024?mt=8

New Game, Hondune's Truck Trials To Be Released Soon!

2012-01-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

I am very proud to announce a new game i have been working on for the last couple months!

Hondune's Truck Trials!

Ill Cut straight to the chase and just post the video for those who dont care to read ;)

For those of you who do care to read...

Hondune's Truck Trials is a game that sets itself apart from other driving games. This time it’s NOT all about speed, but rather pure skill and concentration, and a little luck. The goal is to get as many of the 4 crates you start with to the finish 'zone'. Each crate counts as a 1000 point bonus to an otherwise falling score. Each time you pass a level you unlock the next level, and possibly a new vehicle! Compete locally and globally to gain the highest score on each of the 40 levels! Then take your unlocked vehicles and hone your skills in the free ride arena!

Features:

-Extremely realistic vehicle physics with accurate suspension, mass, torque, friction, .etc

-Each vehicle feels very different with unique weight, speed, torque, suspension, etc.

-8 Vehicles (1 to start with, 7 unlocked throughout the game)

-40 increasingly Challenging levels with physics based puzzles and challenges (teeter totters, moving platforms, pressure pad enabled events etc.)

-Local leaderboards (top 5 scores for each level)

-Global leaderboards (top 100 scores for each track, includes username, total score, number of crates, overall time, and which truck was used)

-Free ride arena with various obstacles

More levels and vehicles coming in the future!

Coming very soon to an app store near you!

Due to the advanced physics Hondune’s Truck Trials will only be available to 4th gen or above devices and both 1st and 2nd gen i pads. (The possibility for backwards compatibility is in development)

CountDown: DownToZero version 1.4 submitted

2009-09-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

we've submitted a new update to CountDown: DownToZero that lets the player choose between 3 different graphical "skins"... this leaves in the updated graphics from the previous update, brings back the original retro graphics, and also adds a new "modern" visual style as well. hopefully it will be approved soon. Here are some screenshots of the new version:

DownToZero's new name...

2009-08-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Countdown

We just submitted version 1.3 of DownToZero to Apple. This version changes the name of the game to "Countdown", and has a new visual style and icon. We will see if these changes have any effect on the sales of the game!

Once the update goes live we will update this blog to reflect the new name and visual style... The image above is the new icon for the game.

How important is an App icon and name?

2009-08-12T23:27:00.001-07:00

We've decided to try a little experiment with our latest game "DownToZero"...

After looking at the sales of DownToZero since release, we've been a bit disappointed. So far DTZ has sold around 350 copies in over a month in the App Store. Reviews for the game have been 100% positive, with nearly everyone who plays the game finding it engaging, unique, well-built, and suited to the usage pattern of the iPhone / iPod Touch (short bursts of play, ability to resume games easily, quick load times, leaderboards, etc).

So the problem doesn't appear to be the quality of the game.

So then what's the problem?

DownToZero has been reviewed on several sites, including a prominent mention on IGN.com in a "Unsung iPhone Games" feature (DownToZero was the first game featured, everyone who read that article was exposed to the game). But reviews have seemed to have no effect on the sales of the game.... nearly no visible spikes in sales around the posting of any reviews.

I have read from other sources on the internet that most of the purchases for apps on the App Store come from people browsing on their device, and discovering apps in the various lists that exist (Featured, Top Paid / Free / Release Date for a category, and Top 25). Common knowledge appears to be that to get any kind of volume sales you need to get your app into the top 100 paid/free list for your given category (in the case of DTZ, that would be Games>Arcade or Games>Puzzle).

Whenever you make an update to your game, you also get the option to update the "availability date", which basically gives your app a chance to re-appear on the "Release Date" list of new apps. This is a way to get some exposure to those people browsing the App Store on their device, at least until a new batch of newer apps show up and push you off the list.

The sales data for DTZ seems to confirm that indeed, whenever we release an update (and subsquently get on the New Release list for about 1-2 days), we see a spike in sales:

This seems to confirm that most of our sales are coming from people who see the game in the New Release list, click through to the app description page, and buy it.

So why aren't more people choosing to ckick through and buy DTZ when it's on that list? Why isn't the spike bigger?

Our rather obvious hypothesis is that when you look at the initial list of apps in the App Store, you only have 2 pieces of information to use to decide if you want to click through to the detail page for an app: Icon and Name.

We believe that most people are not even clicking through to the description of DTZ, simply because the description page contains quotes from IGN and other sources praising the game, and hopefully is a compelling description of the game.

Also, looking at our game name and icon in the context of a list, it becomes apparent that "DownToZero", and the simple pixel-style icon don't communicate much at all about what kind of a game this is:

The Experiment
We've decided to try something. We're going to change the name and icon ONLY for DownToZero (also updating the game itself to display the new name in the main menu), and see what effect that has on the "update spike".

Currently we're trying to decide on a new name for the game that will catch people's attention, and entice them to click through to the app description page. We need a simple, short title that grabs people's attention, and communicates something meaningful about the game.

Here are some of our ideas so far (in no particular order):

Zero Sum
Flash Drop
Drop Down
Touch Down
Smarter than Numbers
Flash Math
Drop Factor
Countdown
Count it Down
Hikizan
Hayabiki Drop
Drop Reflex

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the best name to use for this experiment! Once we settle on a new name, we'll work on creating a new icon.

DownToZero Lite removed, new developments coming soon.

2009-08-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

The price for DownToZero has been dropped to $0.99, so it doesn't really have the need for a "Lite" version anymore, so we've removed it from the App store.

We are looking to try an interesting experiment with DownToZero over the next few weeks, look for more details here soon...

DownToZero on sale for $0.99!!!

2009-08-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

The title says it all, DownToZero is now on sale for just $0.99! Get it while it's cheap :)

Ouch! version 1.4 submitted to Apple!

2009-08-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have submitted version 1.4 of Ouch! to Apple, hopefully it will be approved within a week or so. This version adds 1 big new feature (and also some new props as well) :

Replay Sharing!

One of the best things about Ouch! is the ability to save and watch a replay of something funny or amazing that happened while you were playing the game. With this new update, you will now be able to share your replays with all of the other Ouch! players around the world.
Because of technical limitations, custom faces (for example a face you made of your brother) cannot be shared... players who download your scene will see exactly what happened, with a character exactly the same size and shape (and outfit) as yours, but with the custom face replaced with a standard face. Hopefully the replays will be just as funny/amazing/interesting/ridiculous with a standard Ouch! face :)

We've also added a few "summer" themed props to the game:

Backyard BBQ
Bicycle (left and right versions)
Lawn Mower (left and right versions)
Lawn Chair

Another review for DownToZero

2009-07-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

Reviews are slowly trickling in for DownToZero, everyone seems to enjoy the game, which is very good news!

Thanks to Google Alerts for finding this one for us :)
Daily Rodent - DownToZero review

DownToZero on iPhone Roundup #13

2009-07-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

Two new reviews for DownToZero

2009-07-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Two reviews for DownToZero were posted today on the interwebs, both very positive!

"DownToZero is a great casual game that gives your brain a much needed workout. I’m sure after a few weeks of playing this game, you will have nightmares about numbers falling down on you while you try to find which numbers can be brought down to zero. It can get addictive."
-musttap.com

5.5 / 6 stars
-appviewer.de

DownToZero on IGN! and version 1.1 available now.

2009-07-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

IGN has posted an article titled "Eight Great Unsung iPhone Games", and DownToZero is the first game they feature! Wow, thanks IGN!!

as a side note, version 1.1 of DownToZero and DownToZero Lite are now available on the App Store. version 1.1 doesn't add anything major, just some minor tweaks and improvements.

Ouch! v1.3 approved, thousands of scenes uploaded!

2009-07-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ouch! v1.3 was approved by Apple a little over a week ago, and the scene sharing feature has been a big success! So far over 3,000 scenes have been uploaded by Ouch! players, which is truly amazing! There are some really great scenes in there.

We are constantly monitoring the scene sharing system, and making improvements to it. So far we have added more search features, fixed some bugs, and made the process of approving scenes simpler.

We've received many comments suggesting that the ability to rate scenes, and add descriptions for scenes is something that players want, so we are looking into adding those features in the future. We're not the most experienced web development team though, so these things take some time.

We are also hard at work on the next update to Ouch!, which will add more props and content, and a few features that we think players will be excited about.

Introducing DownToZero

2009-07-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

DownToZero
...is an arcade puzzle game.

** NOW AVAILABLE **
Full Version - $1.99

The rules of the game are simple:

3. Drag your finger to connect blocks that subtract down to zero.
2. Connected blocks will disappear after 2 seconds.
1. Connect more blocks before they disappear to create chains!

0. Good luck!

- - - - - - - - - -
GAME FEATURES
- - - - - - - - - -
* 4 GAME MODES:
- Endless Mode
- Time Attack: 1 minute
- Time Attack: 3 minutes
- Clear the board

* GLOBAL LEADERBOARDS
- Leaderboard for each game mode.
- If you are away from an internet connection when you get a high score, the game will resend the next time you launch the game in an area with a connection.

* FULL RESUME SYSTEM
- Don't worry if you get a call, text message, or just have to exit the game in the middle of the action. The next time you start the game, your previous session is immediately restored!

* IDEAL FOR SHORT BURSTS OF PLAY
- Loads fast, menus navigate quickly.
- Time attack modes are perfect for when you just have a moment while waiting in line, etc.

GAME TRAILER

DownToZero: Gameplay Trailer

2009-06-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

A quick gameplay trailer for our new game, "DownToZero". The game has been submitted to Apple, hopefully it won't take long to be approved! A Lite version has also been created and submitted, they will be released simultaneously.

New Game coming soon!

2009-06-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

A sneak preview of the icon for our new game "DownToZero". More details soon!

Ouch! Version 1.3 submitted to Apple

2009-06-13T07:06:00.001-07:00

Version 1.3 of Ouch! has been submitted to Apple, and is now in review. Hopefully if there are no problems the update will be available in about a week or so, depending on how busy the reviewers are at Apple.

Version 1.3 adds 1 big feature: scene sharing!

Anyone will now be able to upload their custom scenes directly from inside the game, and browse and download scenes created by other players. You can sort through the available levels by date, tag, or number of downloads... and even click on a username to view all levels by that creator. Updating your scenes is easy as just reuploading them as well.

We're very excited about this feature, so hopefully the update will be approved soon!

Ouch! v1.3 - Scene Sharing!

2009-06-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

We are curently finishing up work on the next update to Ouch! (version 1.3), which is a huge update, because it adds online scene sharing from right within the game! We will explain how it all works in more detail once we get closer to releasing the update, but below are a few screenshots to show the current work in progress.

Version 1.2 Feature: Exploding Objects!

2009-05-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Version 1.2 of Ouch! was submitted to Apple today. Hopefully they will approve the update within a week or so, and all of the new features will be available for everyone! One last feature that we're excited that we got into the update is...

Exploding / Breaking Objects

Here is the full list of other features that will be in version 1.2:

Gravity is now adjustable for custom scenes! You can control the direction and power of gravity, and also adjust whether tilt controls should only be left/right, or full 360 degrees.
A "Ghost" character is now drawn after previewing a custom scene in the editor. This way tou can see exactly where the character ended up, and place new objects more accurately.
New Content:

10 new scenes from Hondune Games
4 new player-created scenes
3 new props
2 new outfits
1 new hat

Version 1.2 Feature: "Ghost Character"

2009-05-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Another new feature being added in the next update to Ouch! is a "ghost character" in the scene editor. Have you ever been creating a scene, and you found it difficult to place objects along the path a character will fly when being thrown from pinball flippers, etc? This new addition will really help with problems like that when creating your own scenes.

Now, whenever you preview a scene, and then return back to editing, a "ghosted" version of the character will be drawn in the exact location and pose that it was in when the preview ended:

hopefully this will make creating custom scenes even easier, and faster!

version 1.2 should be submitted to Apple within a week or so...

Player Submitted Scenes [04]

2009-05-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, Ouch! has made it into the top 50 paid applications on the App Store! Many new people are playing the game, and that means we've been getting some great scenes sent our way. Tonight we updated our flickr set with many new cool player-created scenes. Make sure you navigate over there and check it out!

Player Submitted Scenes Flickr Set

** The images that you can import into Ouch! are the images that look like a grid of colored blocks. That is the data for the scene stored as an image file. In our flickr set we also have screenshots of the levels, so you can see what the level looks like before you download it. The screenshot is always followed by the image file for that level.

How to Import Scenes
1. From the main menu, choose "Edit"
2. Touch the new scene / import scene toolbar button (bottom right)
3. Select the appropriate place to find the image (if you saved the image from safari on your device, select "stored photos", if you downloaded on your computer and synched with iTunes, choose "photo library)
4. Find the image for the scene, and select it!
5. To continue to import multiple scenes, touch the import button (top left) and choose another image.

Ouch! Lite now available!

2009-04-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ouch! Lite was approved by Apple, and is now available in the App Store! If you are curious about Ouch! and want to give it a try before the big "commitment" of your $3, give it a look :)

Upcoming Feature: Custom Scene Gravity

2009-04-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

** EDIT ** To clarify, below is a feature that will be in the NEXT update to Ouch!, which will be version 1.2 ***

We are currently working on the next update for Ouch! (v1.1.1, which fixes some bugs and adds a few new props is currently in review with Apple), and one of the new features we are adding is the ability to alter the gravity for your custom scenes.

You can change the strength of the gravity (from zero to twice the default gravity), the direction of gravity, and also enable a new mode that lets you control the ragdoll by tilting in ALL directions, not just left-right. This is especially useful for zero-gravity scenes, where you can slide the ragdoll all around just by tilting.

We still have some other features to add before we submit the update that includes this feature, so we will post again as we get closer to submitting!

Player Submitted Scenes [03]

2009-04-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Great scenes keep rollin' in from Ouch! players! we've updated our Flickr set with several newly submitted scenes... here are some screenshots of the scenes, click any of them to go to the full gallery (where you can also download the data images).

Lite version delay...

2009-04-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we got word that Ouch! Lite had been rejected by Apple. :(

it turns out the problem was a (simple, but) stupid mistake on our part. We've already resubmitted Ouch! Lite, and if all goes well it will be available on the App Store in about a week.

sorry for the delay!!

Ouch! Lite available soon!

2009-04-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

We have recently submitted Ouch! Lite to Apple, and it should be available soon in the app store (for free, of course). If you are interested in Ouch!, but haven't yet decided it's worth $3, hopefully the Lite version will help you see why it's such a good value!

The Lite version has a few scenes to play, and a large selection of replays that you can watch from the full version. It does not have any character customization or scene creation available.

Player Submitted Scenes [02]

2009-04-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our Player Submitted Scenes Gallery has been updated with all of the great recent scenes everyone has posted, thanks to everyone who sent them in! We have an active thread going on toucharcade.com where most of the players are submitting these.

click any of these to go to the full gallery where you can download the data files as well...

Version 1.1 Released!

2009-04-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

version 1.1 of Ouch! was just approved, and is now available in the App Store!

This version makes many improvements to the game, and also adds several new props, and scenes (including several player-submitted scenes), and features. Here is the full list of changes:

1. Multi-select added to the editor! Double tap and drag your finger to select multiple objects, and then move them as usual. You can also delete and copy selections of objects now, making level creation and modification much easier.

2. New props:

Left-facing cannon.
Trashcan
Little Red Wagon
Sled
Trebuchet

3. New Scenes:

2 new scenes form Hondune Games
6 scenes from Ouch! players! Look for them in the "Community Selections" scene set!

4. Dragging objects near the edge of the screen in the editor now causes the camera to pan in that direction.

5. Custom face image selection explanation message added, to avoid confusion.

6. "End Scene Now" option added to pause menu, to allow exiting a scene without waiting for the countdown (but still keeping your score)

7. Message box added to editor when the scene complexity limit is reached.

8. Ability to reset high scores for single scenes from the scene editor added.

9. Props are now listed alphabetically in the add prop window.

10. hitbox for game pause menu doubled in size.

11. Rocket prop fixed to be static until launched.

Ouch! v1.1 Preview - Multi-Select!

2009-03-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

We are currently hard at work on the first update to Ouch!, which we hope to submit to Apple in the next few days. The update will include many improvements based on early feedback to the game, to hopefully make some areas smoother and more intuitive... However there is also one major new feature that is being implemented:

Multi-Select in the Scene Editor!

Just double tap and drag your finger to select multiple objects at a time:

Once selected, you can move the entire group of objects quickly and easily. If you've ever started a scene, only to realize that you should have started the entire scene up closer to the top of the world, you can now make that adjustment very easily!

Not only that, but you can also delete and copy multiple objects at a time as well.

We think this addition really makes the scene editor more useful, and we're looking forward to the release of version 1.1 so that players can get their hands on it.

Player Submitted Scenes [01]

2009-03-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Many players have been sending us scenes that they have made with the in-game editor in Ouch. Below are thumbnails of what the scene looks like. For the actual scene data image files, click any of the images to jump to the gallery, which contains both the thumbnails, and the actual importable files.

How to Import Scenes
1. From the main menu, choose "Edit"
2. Touch the new scene / import scene toolbar button (bottom right)
3. Select the appropriate place to find the image (if you saved the image from safari on your device, select "stored photos", if you downloaded on your computer and synched with iTunes, choose "photo library)
4. Find the image for the scene, and select it!
5. To continue to import multiple scenes, touch the import button (top left) and choose another image.

Click on any of the images below to jump to the picasa photo gallery, where you can download the scene images.

About Custom Faces...

2009-03-19T18:25:00.001-07:00

We've had some confusion from some Ouch! players about how the custom face feature works. Ouch! actually uses 3 images for each face, 1 for each supported expression: normal, happy, and "ouch!". When you select a face in the character face screen, you can touch the buttons on the bottom left of the screen to preview the different expressions for that face:

So, when you go to create a custom face from your own images (or the camera), you will be prompted to select 3 images in a row. The menu that pop up each time tells you what expression you should choose the image for. Once you have selected all 3 images, the face can be saved. If you don't have 3 different images, you can just choose the same image multiple times.

Pro Tip:
Even after you have created a custom face, you can still fine-tune the alignment of the individual images. In the face select screen, select your custom face. Then touch the button on the bottom for the expression you want to adjust. Then just use 1 or 2 fingers on the top part of the screen to drag, rotate, and scale the face image to your liking You can do this individually for each expression on the face. When you are done, select "DONE", or choose another face from the list. You will be prompted if you want to save your changes!

Hondune Logo Scene (Ouch!)

2009-03-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of many scenes we hope to post here for Ouch! players. This is a scene based on our Hondune Games logo:

Save the image below to your iPhone or iPod Touch, and then from within Ouch! choose "Edit", and then touch the import button on the toolbar, and choose "Import fom Image", and find the saved image. The scene should import!

Introducing "Ouch!"

2009-03-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

Ouch! is now available in the App Store for $2.99! Get it HERE!

A free Lite version is also available! Get it HERE.

"Ouch!" is a ragdoll physics game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In the game you guide your character through various scenes, trying to cause your character to take as much damage as possible. The more damage your character takes, the higher the score.

The controls are simple:

Tilt the device to alter gravity, guiding the character into objects / walls
Touch and swipe across the screen to "nudge" the character more directly.
Use the interactive objects in the world (by touching them) to cause different reactions. Interactive objects include pinball flippers, cars, cannons, rockets, and more.

(examples of the character creation / editing screens)

Characters are fully customizable, from their body proportions, to their outfit, to their facial expressions. In fact, using images stored in your device library (or by taking pictures directly with the iPhone camera), you can put any face you want on your custom character. Character faces can actually have 3 different expressions (which change dynamically during game play) as well. Put your friends inside the game, and have fun terrorizing them! :)

(some in-game screens)

"Ouch!" comes with over 40 pre-built scenes to play around in, but the game goes much farther than that, by including a full-featured scene editor. Combine any of the over 60 different objects with walls, different backgrounds, and different rules to create your own hilarious or ingenious custom scenes. In fact, every scene included with the game was actually made using this exact editor.

(Examples of exported character and scene images)

"Ouch!" also lets players share their creations in a unique way. Both custom scenes and characters can be exported from the game as special JPEG image files (stored directly to the device's photo library). These image files can then be sent by email, posted on the web, etc. Other "Ouch!" players can import these images into the game, and the custom scene or character is recreated in their game!

This is a very unique feature, that means that we can continue to release new levels for the game (or even post popular levels from our players) here on our website after he game is released.

Have a look at the official trailer for the game:

"Ouch" is AVAILABLE NOW in the App Store for an introductory price of $2.99.